Victor kranich



v. KRANICH.

ELECTRIC SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED JULY 3.1916- RENEWED APR-22,1919.`

1 ,32 3 ,368. Patented Dec. 2,1919.

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vIcToR KRANICH, or New YORK, N. Y., AssIGNoR To rnnNcIsv s. MANDEN, or NEW YORK, N. Y. v

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

Application tiled July 3, 1916, Serial No. 107,271. Renewed April 22,1919. Serial 11o. 291,952.

To all whom t may concern: Y

Beit known that I, VICTOR KRANICH, a citizen ot the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State ot New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Switches; and 1 do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description or' the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

` This invention relatesA to switches for electric circuits and more particularly to a switch ot the type commonly known as a snap-switch.

It is an object of the invention to produce a device of simple construction and reliable operation tor causing a quick break of an electric circuit with a minimum amountV ot arcing at the contact surfaces of the switch.

t is a further object-0f the invention to produce a switch in which the parts which cause breaking of thecircuit shall be adapted to be easily altered to bringiresh'poie tions of their surfaces into contact or in which these parts may be quickly replaced by new ones lwhen they become worn by pro longedoperation.v n

Other objects and advantagesof the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which-V Figure lis a front elevation of the switch lshowing the face plate and operating button; l

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation showing the switch inv circuit-closing position;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the switch in open circuit position;

Fig. 4L is a view, principally in section, along the line 1 -4 of Fig. 2 and Fig. 5 vis a View principally in section along the line 5 5 of Fig. 2.

vReferring to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar parts throughout the several views thereof, 10 represents ay base 'of any desired insulating material upon which the parts-ot the switch are mounted. 11 is a contact strip attached to the base by means ot' a screw 12 whichiat its end is provided with a nut 18 to'serve asa binding post :tor connectlng a circuit wire to the switch.4 The other end of strip 11 is attached to the base` 1Q by a metallicbushing 14 screw-threaded atone end to receive a clamped in place.

nut lby which the strip llmay besecurely Patented-Dec. 2,' 1919.7Y

preferablyv formed vlof insulating material andhas a central depression within which the button Y2O is placed, theY outer surfaceV of the latter being approximately flush with the top of the face plate. The designations Ott and On may be placed on theA surface of the plate to show the position of thel removablemembers of the switch. A recess 23 is cut around the edge of the upper face of the plate sothat the latter may be set into 'a plate forming a part of any electrical apparatus with which it is desired to use the switch. Thelatter maybe retained in place by bolts passing through holes 24V in the face plate. y l

Surrounding the other end of theshaft 16 and attached thereto by a pin 257 is4 a sleeve member 26 which serves as a bearlng for a movable-,contact arm27. This arm is formed with a socket `28 at one end and a latching projection 29lat the other. 1 A short'- carbon` rod4 30 'may be placed, within the socket `and retainedV in any manner. '2C/oiledv about the outer end of the shaft 1 6 is' a spring 31 retained in place by a nut'32and washer 33. AOne end ofV this spring is attached. to the arm 27 by` a vpinl,` while the other end thereof is attached to` thevsleeve member 26 by pin 35 extending'beyond theV A binding post 40 forming theother terminal of the switch is, mounted on the base l0. To l0 is attachedv a spriiiglinger 4:1

having a main" contact 42 shaped to. fit

against the outer surface of the socket 28 when the switch'is 'in circuit closing position. Another spring finger '43)` isattached to d0. This vlatter ngel' has a socket 454 adapted to receive a short carbon vrodz the outer end ot which comes in vcontact with the outer end ot1 carbon 30 zwhen the switch.v is vin circuit closing position, these partsthus constituting auxiliary contacts.

' The means for vretaining the *arm 2"? inA circuit-closing position until such time as it should be released consists of a latching device comprising a detent arm 50 pivoted to a post 5l which may be attached to the base l0 by a nut 52, there being a head 53 on the end of the post. A spring 54 is coiled about the end of the post and retained in place by a nut 55. One end of the spring is attached to the nut 52 by being inserted in a hole therein as at 56 while the other end of the spring is brought around the side of 50 as at 57. The action of the spring is to hold the detent 50 under the projection 29 of the movable contact arm to retain the latter in circuit-closing position. A tripping arm 58 extends from the side of 50 into the path of the pin 35.

lAssuming the parts of the switch are as shown in the circuit closing position of 'Five 2 and it is desired to open the switch the operation will rbe as follows: The button 2O is rotated to the Off position. This causes the shaft 16 and the sleeve member' 26 attached thereto to rotate in ay direction to bring pin 35 against the end of the tripping arm 58. At the same time the spring 3l is put under tension because its other end is attached to arm 27 which is held by detent 50. When pin 35 reaches 58 further motion will release the detent and the spring will then cause the arm 27 to rotate rapidly. The circuit will be first broken between the main. contacts 2S and 42, while the carbons 30 and 45 will remain momentarily in engagement. It will be noted that the' contact face of 45 is set so that it is not perpendicular to a line passing through the axis of the movable contact arm. It follows from this arrangement that as contact 30 moves over contact 45 the preceding portion of the vface `of the former contact will gradually recede from the face of the latter leaving only the following'portion `of the face of the former in contact until that portion finally passes off of 45. Thus the a'rcing which occurs at the break of the circuit will take place at or near the edges of the carbon contacts and by slightly altering their positions in the sockets from time to time theiry period of use can be considerably' lengthened. Whenever it is necessary to replace them it can he done quickly by merely removing the old ones and inserting new ones in the sockets.

To close the circuit the button 2O is turned to the On position. This will rotate the shaft 16 and also the arm 27 because the pin 35 engages the edge of the latter. Contact Ywill rstbe made between the preceding edge of carbon contact 30 and the face of carbon contact 45 after which the two contacts will reach the position shown in Fig. 2, at which time the latch projection 28 will ride over the detent 50 and be retained in place mitil a subsequent release.l At the same time contact finger' 42 Will come firmly in contact with the outer surface of socket 28, over which ithas a sliding or wiping movement due to the resilien'cy of spring inger44l.

Various modifications or changes in the details of the construction of my invention .may be made without departing from the principle thereof.

T claim:

l. iin electric switch, comprising, in combination, a base, shaft rotatably mounted on the base, a main contact rotatablymounted on said shaft, an auxiliary contact associated with said main contact, a main contact device adapted to engage said main contact, an auxiliary contact device adapted to engage said auxiliary contact, means for retaining said main and auxiliary contacts in engagement with their corresponding contact devices, means operable by said shaft for releasing said retaining means and means for causing separation of said main contact and contact device and subsequent separation of said auxiliary contact and contact device.

2. An electric switch, comprising, in combination, a base, a shaft rotatably mounted on said base, an arm rotatably mounted on said shaft, a main contact upon said arm, an auxiliary contact upon said arm, a main contact device adapted to engage said main contact, an auxiliary Contact device adapted to engagesaid auxiliary contact, means for retaining said main and auxiliary contacts in engagement with their corresponding contact devices, means operable by said shaft for releasing said retaining means and means for causing separation of said main contact and contact device and subsequent separation of said auxiliary contact andcontact device.

3. An electric switch, comprising, in combination, a base, a shaft mounted on said base, an arm rotatably mounted on said shaft, means connecting said shaft and said arm, a main contact uponsaid arm, an auxiliary contact upon said arm, a main con-v tact device adapted to engage said main contact, an auxiliary contact device adapted to engage said auxiliarycontact, means for retaining said main and auxiliary contacts in engagement with their corresponding `contact devices, means operable by vsaid shaft for increasing the effect of said connecting means and for thereafter releasing said retaining means to cause separation 0f said main contact and contact device and subsequent separation of saidy auxiliary Contact and Contact device.

4. An electric switch comprising, incombination, a base, a shaft mounted on said base, an arm rotatably mounted on ksaid shaft, means connecting saidshaft and said arm, a main Contact upon said arm, a' removable auxiliary contact associated with said main contact, a main contact device adapted to engage said main contact, an auxiliary contact device having a removable contact adapted to engage said auxiliary contact, means for retaining said main and auxiliary contacts in engagement With their corresponding contact devices, means operable by said shaft for putting said connecting means under tension and for thereafter releasing said retaining means to cause separation of said main contact and contact device and subsequent separation of said auxiliary contact and contact device.

5. An electric switch comprising, in combination, a base, a shaft mounted in said base, means for rotating said shaft, an arm rotatably mounted on said shaft, a spring connecting said shaft and said arm, a main Contact on said arm, an auxiliary contact of carbon or the like associated withY said main contact, a main contact spring adapted to engage said main contact, an auxiliary Contact spring having a removable contact of carbon or the like adapted to engage said auxiliary Contact, a detent for retaining said main and auxiliary contacts in engagementV with their corresponding contact springs, a pin associated with the shaftfor retaining one end of said connecting spring and adapted When said shaft is rotated to 6. An electric switch comprising, in combination, a base, a shaft mounted in said base, means for rotating said shaft, an arm mounted on said shaft, said arm being formed With a socket at one end, means connecting said shaft and said arm, a spring finger adapted to engage the outer surface of the socket, an auxiliary contact inserted in said socket, an auxiliary spring finger having a socket `at one end, a contact member inserted in said socket and adapted to engage said auxiliary contact, the engaging surfaces of said contacts being so related to each other that contact is first madebetween the edge of the Contact located in the socket on the armrand the central portion of the face of the other contact, means for retaining the spring finger and socket and said auxiliary contacts in engagement, and means operable by said shaft for releasing said retaining means to cause said spring finger and socket to first break contact and thereafter said auxiliary contacts to break circuit.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

VICTQR KRANICH. 

